Hibla Gerzmava: "Caucasus loves people"

Pitsunda native Hibla Gerzmava is a legendary person. With her powerful soprano she won over the audience of the Mariinsky Theater, the Vienna State Opera, the Rome Opera, the Opéra Garnier, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and performed the Olympic Waltz during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. On January 19, the State Kremlin Palace will host a large anniversary concert 'Hibla Gerzmava and Friends' to celebrate the opera star's 50th anniversary, which will be attended by Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov, Denis Matsuev, Vladimir Spivakov, Dmitry Ulyanov and Chulpan Khamatova. All proceeds of the concert will be go to charity, they will be donated to the Vladimir Spivakov Charity Foundation and Give Life Foundation. In anticipation of this event, Vestnik Kavkaza presents a blitz interview with Hibla Gerzmava.

- You are preparing for the concert in the Kremlin Palace, but have you already celebrated your birthday?

- Yes, my birthday was on January 6th. I celebrated it with my nearest and dearest people. It seems to me that the most important thing is to spend this day with family and friends.

- Do you plan to give a concert in Baku?

- If I get invited, I'd love to. I visited Azerbaijan at the invitation of Heydar Aliyev, I took part in a very beautiful concert back then. Then I accepted the invitation to visit Azerbaijan with great pleasure.

- What's so great about the Caucasus that it gives rise to voices like yours?

- The Caucasus loves people. The Caucasus gives peace and life. The Caucasus bring voices into world. That's great, that's wonderful!

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At the press conference dedicated to the upcoming concert, Hibla Gerzmava also noted that she was grateful to friends who will join her on the main stage of the country: "I am happy that maestro Spivakov will come to the conductor's desk. I am very happy, very proud that this person is at my side. I love his orchestra very much ... Amazing, marvellous? my long-time friend Denis Matsuev, Anna Netrebko, Yusif, Dima Ulyanov and Igor Golovatenko. Having such incredible stage life and crazy schedule, they still found time to come, and I am very grateful to them that they will join me on the Kremlin's stage on this day... We don't sum up any results, we just work and live. I still have a lot to do, that is, it’s not some line. I hope that this concert will be remembered by the audience. Special people who love me, who are interested in my work, and who are interested in me being in the opera world, visit my concerts. I am happy that at the age of 50, I have the opportunity to organize a huge concert in the Kremlin with my friends."